New music from Sectioned (one of my favorite bands I discovered via Bandcamp) and Svalbard, and I have to give @CelticFrosty credit for turning me onto Kill Athena, since they popped up on on my Bandcamp feed. That LATITUDES track dates back to 2009, but hey, it’s new to me. Sadistik Forest is a straight ahead banger and a perfect way to finish up the work week.

Met up with @MrVinnieSays this week for coffee and wow, our conversation would have made a good podcast episode, I swear!

One of the things we hit on was the nostalgia of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, and how a show like that – today – would be such a risk.

When I was a kid there was nothing else on TV to watch. There were no cell phones, smart phones, or internet. I swear, I remember the ONE time I got to see ‘Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver Big Brown Beaver’ by Primus late one night – I held my breath, dared not speak to my friend in the room… I finally got to see the video I longed for! And when it was over, it was OVER. Gone. But now I can watch it whenever I want on YouTube.

Compare that to now, and the hundreds of entertainment choices we have every single night. New shows on Netflix, every new release on streaming music services, everything else on Bandcamp, videos of our friends on Snapchat and / or Instagram, 100 new music videos to watch on YouTube ever day… like, how the hell would a new Headbanger’s Ball even compete with any of that?

P.S. Our pal @jaci_KVLT did the logo and website for Swallowing Fire, ‘an outdoor culinary event (in Portland, OR) in honor of the Great American Eclipse, celebrating the harmony of nature, food, and people.’

Over and over; “you don’t know what my pain feels like.” Like grabbing someone by the shirt collar and pleading with your eyes, face covered in sweat. How do you explain such pain to someone who’d brush it off?

‘I Can Tell You About Pain’ is the title track of this new EP (here on Bandcamp) which just appeared on Bandcamp on July 25th. It’s my favorite of the two tracks, not just because of the amazing video, but maybe because the 7+ minute ‘Eve’ feels like such a departure for the band. Similar to what our pal Ash said, “swear to god the B-side is any last track off a 90s nu-metal album and no thanks.” Seems fair.

The video was directed by Tony Wolski and edited by Derek Swanson, both of whom are in Old Gods (listen on Bandcamp) from Detroit, MI, along with Jeff Tuttle (formerly of Dillinger Escape Plan). And now I can’t say for sure, but it also looks like Wolski has played with The Armed as well, another Detroit band (he credits himself with Music on Behance here and here).

And yes – those are ALL bands you should go check out immediately and with the utmost urgency.

As my friend Melissa pointed out, the video has that eerie old time house look, similar to other videos like the Deftone’s ‘Change (In The House Of Flies),’ and even Fiona Apple’s ‘Criminal.’

The bearded fella in the video looks like Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon, but the collective internet seems to think it’s vocalist Shawn Knight of Child Bite (listen on Bandcamp)

My pal Travis points out that the protagonist from this video seems to be the same guy from the video for ‘Paradise Day‘ by The Armed. HMMMMM.

P.P.S. The new Couch Slut album ‘Contempt‘ is out now and you should go grab it because it’s fantastic.

This thread today (above) on Twitter got me thinking. My take is that “every song premiere / teaser is a pebble. By the the time Friday rolls around we’re all holding a 20lb bag of pebbles.” Lots of interesting viewpoints in response, so make sure you go check it out.

This “pebble idea” (originally coined by Merlin Mann regarding email) is one of the reasons why I stopped my weekly “Sunday Update” posts with my Patreon. Like, most of you get this email every night. Now another email on Sunday, too, huh? But you’re probably subscribed to other email lists. And have Tweets to catch up on, and shows to watch, and albums to listen to. Each of those is a pebble, and I don’t want to burden you with more pebbles.

Hello

My name is Seth Werkheiser (founder of Noise Creep, Buzzgrinder), and I’ve been publishing nerdy metal trivia on Twitter since 2011.

Skull Toaster casts no judgment on your level of “metal knowledge.” This is a safe space to admit you don’t like Metallica, or can’t name every drummer from Slayer over the years. The mission here is to have fun, listen to good music, and hopefully provide a safe, calm space here on the internet.